Here is a short history of the original North American Soccer League on television, with as much ratings information as I have been able to dig up, and links to as many games as I can find. (As you’ll notice in the list of season schedules, we have at least highlights, if not complete games, of many telecasts from the TVS/ABC era.) I’m constantly on the lookout for any hard numbers relating to NASL broadcasts on ABC or anywhere else, and links to videos or DVDs of games, so if you have any, contact me.
CBS Starts the Ball Rolling
CBS was the television home of the National Professional Soccer League in its first season of 1967, with Jack Whitaker and Danny Blanchflower behind the mics on Sundays. The network’s marketing slogan was “Just for Kicks!” but it could have been “Just for Commercials!” as referees were instructed to call fouls and delay play to allow CBS to insert commercials into the action. An Associated Press story on Oct. 8, 1967 said ratings for the broadcasts were “generally higher than expected” and that CBS “will probably renew the contract.” (They did – which was to bring the league between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in revenue, depending on the source.) Another story from May 1968 notes the ratings for 1967 averaged a 4.3.
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time | Note |
| Sunday | 4/16/1967 | Atlanta at Baltimore | 2:30 p.m. | Bays win 1-0 in debut for both teams |
| Sunday | 4/23/1967 | California at St. Louis | 2 p.m. | 20,985 see Eric Hahn score twice, 2-1 Stars |
| Sunday | 4/30/1967 | New York at Philadelphia | 2:30 p.m. | Spartans win, 2-0 |
| Sunday | 5/7/1967 | Chicago at St. Louis | 2:30 p.m. | Stars win 2-1 again on TV |
| Sunday | 5/14/1967 | Pittsburgh at Toronto | 2:30 p.m. | Phantoms win on road, 2-1. |
| Sunday | 5/21/1967 | Atlanta at New York | 2:30 p.m. | Julio Ash scores twice for NYG in 2-2 draw. |
| Sunday | 5/28/1967 | Philadelphia at Toronto | 2:30 p.m. | Hat trick by Tibor Szalay in 7-2 Philly rout. |
| Sunday | 6/4/1967 | Baltimore at Philadelphia | 2:30 p.m. | Scoreless draw was surely a delight to watch. |
| Sunday | 6/11/1967 | St. Louis at Philadelphia | 2:30 p.m. | Spartans play second straight scoreless draw on TV. |
| Sunday | 6/18/1967 | Los Angeles at St. Louis | 2:30 p.m. | Toros win 1-0 in first TV appearance. |
| Sunday | 6/25/1967 | Chicago at Philadelphia | 2:30 p.m. | Ernie Winchester brace gives Spurs 2-0 win |
| Sunday | 7/2/1967 | Los Angeles at Atlanta | 2 p.m. | 1-1 draw |
| Sunday | 7/9/1967 | Chicago at New York | 2 p.m. | Spurs win 3-2 on road |
| Sunday | 7/16/1967 | St. Louis at Pittsburgh | 2:30 p.m. | Rudolph Kolbl‘s goal for Pittsburgh the only tally |
| Sunday | 7/23/1967 | Chicago at Baltimore | 2:30 p.m. | Dennis Violett scores for Bays in 2-1 win |
| Sunday | 7/30/1967 | Atlanta at Philadelphia | 2:30 p.m. | Just 4,236 attend 1-1 draw |
| Sunday | 8/6/1967 | Toronto at Oakland | 3:30 p.m. | Ilija Mitic scores both for renamed Clippers |
| Sunday | 8/13/1967 | St. Louis at Baltimore | 2:30 p.m. | Bays win 3-1 |
| Sunday | 8/20/1967 | Baltimore at Atlanta | 2:30 p.m. | Scoreless draw clinches East title for Baltimore |
| Sunday | 8/27/1967 | Baltimore at Pittsburgh | 2:30 p.m. | Phantoms win 3-2 but only 892 attend |
| Sunday | 9/3/1967 | Oakland at Baltimore | 2 p.m. | Championship 1st Leg (BAL 1-0) |
| Saturday | 9/9/1967 | Baltimore at Oakland | 3:30 p.m. | Championship 2nd Leg (OAK 4-1) |
In 1968, Mario Machado1Bonus points if you remember his cameo in Robocop. replaced Blanchflower (who was deemed to be a little too frank in his assessment of the quality of play) on CBS’ telecasts of the newly renamed North American Soccer League. Machado may have been a little too enthusiastic, as he proclaimed prior to the season that “There’s an American soccer revolution going on, and in three years we will be able to field a totally American team.” The revolution was televised, with Machado and Jack Whitaker calling games, usually on Sundays. As was the case with the 1967 NPSL championship series, the weekly telecasts in 1968 were blacked out in the market of the home team.
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time | Note |
| Saturday | 4/27/1968 | St. Louis at Kansas City | 3 p.m. | Spurs win 4-0 behind two Ernie Winchester goals. |
| Saturday | 5/4/1968 | Cleveland at Baltimore | 2 p.m. | Stokers win 2-1, Baltimore drops to 0-5-1. |
| Sunday | 5/12/1968 | New York at Toronto | 3 p.m. | Despite Dieter Perau’s brace, Falcons win 3-2. |
| Sunday | 5/19/1968 | Chicago at Toronto | 3 p.m. | Peter Sulincevski’s 67th-minute header brings Chicago 1-1 draw. |
| Sunday | 5/26/1968 | Oakland at Dallas | 2:30 p.m. | Clips struggle to 1-1 draw with winless Tornado. |
| Sunday | 6/2/1968 | Oakland at St. Louis | 2:30 p.m. | Stars win 2-1 with Norb Pregeba brace. |
| Sunday | 6/9/1968 | Man City at Oakland | 3 p.m. | First US league match on international TV. Clips 3-0 for 25,237. |
| Sunday | 6/16/1968 | Washington at Baltimore | 3 p.m. | Game featured 56 shots but just one goal, by Whips. |
| Sunday | 6/23/1968 | San Diego at Detroit | 2 p.m. | San Diego 2-1. Detroit gave away 10,000 tickets to get crowd of 11,097. |
| Sunday | 6/30/1968 | Santos FC at St. Louis | 3 p.m. | Pele scores game-winner (3-2) in front of 20,116. |
| Sunday | 7/7/1968 | Oakland at Kansas City | 2 p.m. | Eric Barber goal and assist for Spurs, who won 3-1 for 9,382 fans. |
| Sunday | 7/14/1968 | Santos FC at Washington | 3 p.m. | Pepe (not Pele) scores twice in 3-1 Santos win in front of 20,189. |
| Sunday | 7/21/1968 | St. Louis at San Diego | 3 p.m. | Toros win 1-0 in front of season-high crowd (13,447). |
| Sunday | 7/28/1968 | Washington at New York | 3 p.m. | Only 3,244 see 4-3 thriller won by Generals. |
| Sunday | 8/4/1968 | San Diego at Kansas City | 3 p.m. | Spurs win 2-1 in Western Conference leadership clash. |
| Sunday | 8/11/1968 | Dallas at St. Louis | 1 p.m. | Stars drub Dallas 5-2. |
| Sunday | 8/18/1968 | Boston at Baltimore | 3 p.m. | Loanee Wilf Tranter scores game-winner in 2-1 Bays victory. |
| Sunday | 8/25/1968 | New York at Detroit | 3 p.m. | Cougars demote Generals, 5-0. |
| Sunday | 9/1/1968 | Detroit at New York | 3 p.m. | Generals win 4-1 in undercard of Benfica-Santos. |
| Saturday | 9/14/1968 | Cleveland at Atlanta | 2 p.m. | Kaizer Moutang scores in OT to lift Chiefs into finals, 2-1. |
| Saturday | 9/21/1968 | Atlanta at San Diego | 4 p.m. | First leg of finals ends 0-0. |
| Saturday | 9/28/1968 | San Diego at Atlanta | 4 p.m. | Chiefs win NASL title with 3-0 rout of Toros. |
CBS got back into the game by televising Pele’s debut with the New York Cosmos in an exhibition on June 15, 1975 with Frank Gleiber and Ben Wright on the telecast from Downing Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York. An audience of some 10 million people saw the Black Pearl score a goal and add an assist in a 2-2 draw. Well, to be honest, they didn’t see either play live – CBS was in commercial for the assist and in a replay for the goal. CBS also carried another Cosmos match and Soccer Bowl ’75, won by the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2-0 over the Portland Timbers at San Jose.
What was supposed to be a new three-year contract with the NASL started off with the June 6, 1976 game between the Cosmos and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Coming just over two weeks after the contract itself was announced, the game drew an audience of some 3.3 million households. (At right, CBS’ Machado interviews Tampa Bay’s Derek Smethurst, photo from Ian Morris’ excellent Rowdies history blog.) CBS also showed Soccer Bowl ’76 and was to broadcast six games in 1977 and “at least” nine in 1978. The second and third years of the “contract” never materialized.
TVS Tunes In 1977-78
TVS was an ad-hoc network of stations that carried syndicated sports programming (perhaps their biggest coup was carrying the University of Houston’s upset of UCLA in basketball in 1968), and they latched onto the NASL for the 1977 and 1978 seasons. TVS carried seven games, including the Soccer Bowl, in 1977. TVS’ main NASL announcer (along with analyst Paul Gardner) was Jon Miller, who would go on to have a great career as a baseball broadcaster. (Truth be told, he was not a great soccer broadcaster.)
Unfortunately for the NASL, many stations in big markets didn’t carry the TVS games, and some that did shunted them off to 11:30 pm on Monday nights, well after they had been played. A reasonably consistent, live, major network television package would elude the NASL for another year.
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 5/29/1977 | New York Cosmos at Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1:30 p.m. | Franz Beckenbauer’s debut |
| Sunday | 6/19/1977 | Los Angeles Aztecs at Minnesota Kicks | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 7/10/1977 | New York Cosmos at Seattle Sounders | 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 7/24/1977 | Chicago Sting at San Jose Earthquakes | 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 8/14/1977 | Seattle Sounders at Minnesota Kicks | 2 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Sunday | 8/21/1977 | New York Cosmos at Rochester Lancers | 3 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Sunday | 8/28/1977 | New York Cosmos vs. Seattle Sounders | 4 p.m. | Soccer Bowl ’77 |
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
| Sunday | 4/16/1978 | Ft. Lauderdale Strikers at Washington Diplomats | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/11/1978 | Dallas Tornado at Detroit Express | 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 7/9/1978 | Los Angeles Aztecs at San Jose Earthquakes | 4 p.m. | |
| Saturday | 7/22/1978 | New York Cosmos at Seattle Sounders | 4 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 8/13/1978 | Detroit Express at Ft. Lauderdale Strikers | 4 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Sunday | 8/20/1978 | Tampa Bay Rowdies at Ft. Lauderdale Strikers | 3 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Sunday | 8/27/1978 | New York Cosmos vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 p.m. | Soccer Bowl ’78 |
The post-Pele boom must have convinced someone that soccer was the new hot thing, because the NASL took a quantum (yet short-lived) leap after the 1978 season.
The ABC Years 1979-81
In 1979, the NASL landed a contract (reportedly for $1.8 million over two years) with ABC that called for nine telecasts of league games, including the playoffs and Soccer Bowl. Below is a list of the games that ABC carried in 1979 and 1980, with play-by-play announcer Jim McKay and the by-then-ubiquitous Paul Gardner.
The ratings were far below what ABC expected out of the “Sport of the 80’s,” and they (largely) bailed out of the contract after carrying several games in 1980.
I have been able to find some information on NASL ratings:
- A comment from former ABC Sports executive Jim Spence in the film “Once in a Lifetime,” who notes that ABC averaged a 2.7 rating for its telecasts in 1979, “representing about 2 million homes.”
- An article in the July 15, 1980 New York Times says the 1980 games averaged a 2.6 rating (the same as 1979) and a 10 share (up from a 9 share in 1979). It also mentions that 1980’s first telecast did a 2.1 rating, while a Cosmos-Washington Diplomats game on June 1 did a 3.1.
- The December 1, 1980 issue of Sports Illustrated noted that ratings for the six ABC games in 1980 averaged a “dismal” 2.6.
Major League Soccer would love to have those numbers today, as they struggle to get a million households to watch their championship game, MLS Cup.
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 5/12/1979 | New York Cosmos at Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/10/1979 | Vancouver Whitecaps at Minnesota Kicks | 1:30 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/24/1979 | New England Tea Men at New York Cosmos | 2:30 p.m. | |
| Saturday | 7/7/1979 | Chicago Sting at Detroit Express | 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 7/29/1979 | Los Angeles Aztecs at Washington Diplomats | 2:30 p.m. | |
| Saturday | 8/18/1979 | Chicago Sting at Ft.Lauderdale Strikers | 2 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Saturday | 8/25/1979 | Philadelphia Fury at Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Saturday | 9/1/1979 | Vancouver Whitecaps at New York Cosmos | 2 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Saturday | 9/8/1979 | Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 p.m. | Soccer Bowl ’79 |
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 5/17/1980 | Vancouver Whitecaps at Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 5/25/1980 | Detroit Express at Minnesota Kicks | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/1/1980 | New York Cosmos at Washington Diplomats | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/8/1980 | Tampa Bay Rowdies at Ft. Lauderdale Strikers | 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/22/1980 | Los Angeles Aztecs at Toronto Blizzard | 3:30 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 6/29/1980 | New York Cosmos at Vancouver Whitecaps | 3:30 p.m. | |
| Saturday | 8/30/1980 | San Diego Sockers at Chicago Sting | 2 p.m. | Playoffs |
| Sunday | 9/21/1980 | New York Cosmos vs. Ft. Lauderdale Strikers | 12:30 p.m. | Soccer Bowl ’80 |
The Soccer Bowl showed up on ABC in 1981 (though it was tape-delayed until late that night in Chicago in favor of a Love Boat re-run, and wasn’t seen in New York until the next day), but that was the last gasp for the league on ABC.
Starting in 1981, the NASL did manage to get some games on a new cable sports network that had begun in 1979 called ESPN, as well as the new USA Network2The first USA Network broadcast was of a Tulsa-Tampa Bay match on March 28, 1981 – a game 15-year-old me attended.. It was too little, too late, however, as the forces were already well in motion that would lead to the demise of the league.
I am indebted to Martin Fuller, whose research has uncovered these 1981-1982 NASL games broadcast on ESPN and USA Network:
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 4/10/1981 | California at Dallas | 8 p.m. | |
| Saturday | 4/18/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at Washington3Some markets apparently got Tampa Bay at Jacksonville. | 7:30 p.m. | |
| Sunday | 4/19/1981 | Dallas at New York | 9 p.m. | Tape delay |
| Saturday | 4/25/1981 | Tulsa at Chicago | ||
| Sunday | 4/26/1981 | Seattle at Edmonton | ||
| Saturday | 5/9/1981 | Minnesota at Tulsa | ||
| Saturday | 5/16/1981 | Tampa Bay at Ft. Lauderdale | ||
| Saturday | 5/23/1981 | Seattle at Chicago | ||
| Sunday | 5/3/1981 | Vancouver at Los Angeles | ||
| Saturday | 6/6/1981 | Minnesota at Washington | ||
| Saturday | 6/13/1981 | Montreal at Tampa Bay | ||
| Saturday | 6/20/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at San Diego | ||
| Saturday | 6/27/1981 | Portland at Tulsa | ||
| Saturday | 7/4/1981 | Seattle at Washington | ||
| Saturday | 7/11/1981 | Portland at Minnesota | ||
| Saturday | 7/18/1981 | California at Portland | ||
| Saturday | 7/25/1981 | Edmonton at Toronto | ||
| Saturday | 8/1/1981 | Vancouver at Montreal | ||
| Saturday | 8/8/1981 | Atlanta at Washington | ||
| Saturday | 8/15/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at Tampa Bay | ||
| Sunday | 8/2/1981 | Tulsa at Minnesota | Playoffs | |
| Tuesday | 9/1/1981 | San Diego at Chicago | Playoffs/Tape Delay | |
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
| Saturday | 3/28/1981 | Tulsa at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 5/6/1981 | Calgary at Minnesota | ||
| Friday | 5/15/1981 | New York at Tulsa | ||
| Wednesday | 5/27/1981 | Chicago at Toronto | ||
| Wednesday | 6/3/1981 | Minnesota at Portland | ||
| Wednesday | 6/10/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at New York | ||
| Wednesday | 6/17/1981 | Minnesota at Vancouver | ||
| Wednesday | 6/24/1981 | Edmonton at San Diego | ||
| Wednesday | 7/1/1981 | San Diego at Washington | ||
| Wednesday | 7/8/1981 | Chicago at Dallas | ||
| Wednesday | 7/15/1981 | Chicago at Edmonton | ||
| Thursday | 7/2/1981 | Jacksonville at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 7/29/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at Minnesota | ||
| Wednesday | 8/5/1981 | Chicago at Washington | ||
| Saturday | 8/1/1981 | Atlanta at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 8/19/1981 | Atlanta at Ft. Lauderdale | ||
| Wednesday | 8/26/1981 | Ft. Lauderdale at Calgary | Playoffs | |
| Wednesday | 9/2/1981 | Tampa Bay at New York | Playoffs | |
| Wednesday | 9/9/1981 | New York at Tampa Bay | Playoffs | |
| Wednesday | 9/16/1981 | New York at Ft. Lauderdale | Playoffs | |
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
| Saturday | 5/15/1982 | Portland at Tampa Bay | ||
| Saturday | 5/22/1982 | San Diego at Montreal | ||
| Saturday | 5/29/1982 | Ft. Lauderdale at Tulsa | ||
| Saturday | 6/19/1982 | Vancouver at Chicago | ||
| Saturday | 6/26/1982 | Vancouver at Tampa Bay | ||
| Saturday | 7/3/1982 | Ft. Lauderdale at Tulsa | ||
| Saturday | 7/24/1982 | Jacksonville at Chicago | ||
| Saturday | 7/31/1982 | Edmonton at San Diego | ||
| Saturday | 8/7/1982 | Tampa Bay at Portland | ||
| Sunday | 8/22/1982 | Seattle at Portland | ||
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
| Wednesday | 5/5/1982 | Tampa Bay at Ft. Lauderdale | ||
| Wednesday | 5/12/1982 | New York at San Diego | ||
| Wednesday | 5/19/1982 | Jacksonville at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 5/26/1982 | Napoli at New York | Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup | |
| Saturday | 5/29/1982 | Nacional Montevideo at New York | Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup | |
| Saturday | 5/29/1982 | Napoli at Chicago | Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup | |
| Wednesday | 6/2/1982 | Tulsa at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 6/9/1982 | Ft. Lauderdale at Tampa Bay | ||
| Wednesday | 6/16/1982 | Chicago at Seattle | ||
| Wednesday | 6/23/1982 | New York at Vancouver | ||
| Wednesday | 7/7/1982 | Chicago at Tampa Bay | ||
| Saturday | 7/10/1982 | Chicago at New York | ||
| Wednesday | 7/14/1982 | Ft. Lauderdale at Vancouver | ||
| Wednesday | 7/21/1982 | Montreal at Portland | ||
| Tuesday | 7/27/1982 | San Jose at New York | ||
| Wednesday | 8/4/1982 | Toronto at Montreal | ||
| Wednesday | 8/11/1982 | Toronto at New York | ||
| Wednesday | 8/18/1982 | Tulsa at New York | ||
| Wednesday | 8/25/1982 | Ft. Lauderdale at Montreal | Playoffs | |
| Wednesday | 9/1/1982 | Tulsa at New York | Playoffs | |
| Wednesday | 9/8/1982 | Seattle at Ft. Lauderdale | Playoffs | |
| Saturday | 9/18/1982 | New York vs Seattle | Soccer Bowl | |
USA and ESPN ended their NASL contracts after 19824Though ESPN apparently did carry one friendly between Dinamo Minsk and Team America on May 28, 1983.. An entity called Anheuser Busch Sports (or the “Budweiser Network”) opted to carry Team America home games that season on an ad hoc network of some 19 outlets (including SportsChannel New York and HSE). This aggregation did carry some games other than Team America’s, including Soccer Bowl ’83 (and a similar setup sponsored Major Indoor Soccer League telecasts on ESPN a few years later). Here are the games Martin was able to uncover that were televised on the Budweiser Network.
| Day | Date | Matchup | Time ET | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 6/05/1983 | Seattle at New York | ||
| Friday | 6/09/1983 | Tampa Bay at Team America | ||
| Sunday | 6/12/1983 | Ft. Lauderdale at Team America | ||
| Friday | 6/17/1983 | New York at Team America | ||
| Friday | 7/08/1983 | Toronto at Team America | ||
| Wednesday | 7/20/1983 | San Diego at Team America | ||
| Sunday | 7/24/1983 | Vancouver at Team America | ||
| Sunday | 7/31/1983 | Montreal at Team America | ||
| Sunday | 8/21/1983 | Tulsa at Team America | ||
| Wednesday | 8/24/1983 | Chicago at Team America | ||
| Saturday | 9/03/1983 | Ft. Lauderdale at Team America | ||
| Monday | 09/12/1983 | Ft. Lauderdale at Tulsa | ||
| Sunday | 09/18/1983 | Golden Bay at Toronto | ||
| Saturday | 10/01/1983 | Tulsa vs Toronto | Soccer Bowl ’83 | |
The final NASL game ever played was also its last one ever telecast. On October 3, 1984, the Chicago Sting won the NASL title by defeating the Toronto Blizzard 3-2 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. A crowd of 16,821 saw the game in person, while back in Chicago, they watched on SportsVision, a new pay-per-view channel. Unfortunately, it was far from the biggest sports story in Chicago that day: the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres that afternoon in the second game of the National League Championship Series. The Sting’s victory ended up on Page 7 of the sports section in the next day’s Chicago Tribune.
The assistance of Dave Litterer‘s former American Soccer History Archives (now online at the Society for American Soccer History) and Dave Wasser‘s collection of historic soccer videotapes is gratefully acknowledged.